The present disclosure generally relates to sternal fixation. Specifically, the disclosure relates to a fixation assembly for securing parts of a sternum and to a system comprising the fixation assembly.
Various surgical procedures require the surgeon to access the thoracic region of a patient. A known procedure to access the thoracic region is to cut the sternum in two parts and separate these two parts from each other. After completion of the surgical procedure, the separated parts of the sternum are brought back to their initial position and fixed, for example, with a bone plate attached to the sternum parts or a wire tensioned around the circumference of the sternum.
EP 1365693 B1 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,872,210) relates to a sternal fixation device comprising two mating plates and a release member. The two plates are held together by the release member, and by removing the release member, the two plates can be separated.
US 2006/116683 A1 relates to a fixation assembly comprising a contoured plate and a securing plate. The contoured plate may have a plurality of teeth and the securing plate may have a resilient securing member.
After a surgical procedure such as, for example, a bypass operation has been carried out on a patient and the sternum has been closed using any of the known fixation assemblies, the patient is normally kept under surveillance. If it is detected that the surgical procedure has failed in any manner, it may be desirable for the surgeon to again open the sternum closure. The time required for this sternum opening procedure may be critical for the patient's health and even life.